Saturday, August 14, 2010

Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend by Ravi Zacharias

I received a copy of this book through Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program. The book is a collection of essays by various authors. It is divided into three parts. Part One is titled Giving Answers and deals with challenges from different worldviews. I found the chapters dealing with challenges from Eastern Religions and challenges from science particularly helpful. Most chapters in this section dealt with issues I have read a little about previously but they all offered something new to think about.

Part two was titled internalizing the questions and answers. This section contained the highlight of the book for me - the chapter on the trinity as a paradigm for spiritual transformation. Lots to think about in this chapter and I will definitely be going back for a reread.

The third part, titled living out the answers deals with the church's role in apologetics. A point that came through strongly throughout the book is the need to seek understanding of what others actually believe first and the importance of living a life that is being transformed when we are seeking to share the gospel. In the conclusion Ravi Zacharius sums up with the reminder that the apologist is trying to win the person not the argument. "Tossing a verbal grenade down the chimney chute will not do"

The book is not a really easy read but if you want something thought provoking I'd recommend it.